OneCoin was launched in 2014, and its promoters claimed it was a crypto with a future. They had also stated that the digital asset has a maximum supply of 120 billion coins. But, in reality, they hadn’t built any OneCoin blockchain. The scam was eventually uncovered by authorities who have been searching since 2017, to no avail, who is responsible for it. The latter, nicknamed “Cryptoqueen”, would have collaborated with Christopher Hamilton and Robert McDonald. On Tuesday, a British judge ruled that Christopher should be extradited to the United States. Find out the ins and outs of this fraud case.
OneCoin: millions of dollars laundered from accounts in the United States
Christopher Hamilton is considered the henchman of Ruja Ignatova, the famous “Cryptoqueen”. He would have bleached $105 million stolen from investors with the OneCoin scam. This scam allowed them to rob a total of 4 billion dollars from thousands of investors. As a result, on Tuesday a British judge ordered Christopher Hamilton’s extradition to the United States. He will therefore respond to the charges of money laundering and electronic fraud of which he is the subject before the American justice.
Hamilton’s attorney had argued that the “alleged wrongdoingtook place on British territory. He said there was no way to define precisely where the damages related to the OneCoin fraud took place. He thus hoped to be able to block his client’s extradition order.
However, US attorneys have stated that the funds were transferred to and from US bank accounts. Therefore, the OneCoin fraud took place in the United States and it relates to cross-border crime. The British court finally sided with the United States, ordering the extradition of Christopher Hamilton.
Christopher Hamilton should be extradited to the United States. The extradition order mainly concerns funds that Gilbert Armenta, another suspect linked to OneCoin, allegedly paid into accounts belonging to Hamilton.
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